Metal-to-metal seated valve pot cover with independent gasket sealing adjustment



Aug. 25, 195

3 E. CAMPB LL METAL-TO-METAL SEA INDEPE Filed May 11, 1951 NDENT GAS VALV POT COVER WITH SEALING ADJUSTMENT INVENTOR; 'za/raiffqfla-u 5, 1953 G. E. MPBELL 2,649,988

METAL-TO-METAL INDEPENDENT SE VALVE POT COVER WITH GA ET SEALING ADJUSTMENT Filed May 11, 1951 2 SheetsSheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Aug. 25, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METAL-TO-METAL SEATED VALVE POT COVER WITH INDEPENDENT GASKET SEALING ADJUSTMENT George E. Campbell, Chattanooga, Tenn., assignor to The Wheland Company, Chattanooga, Tenn., a corporation of Tennessee Application May 11, 1951, Serial No. 225,728

1 Claim. (01. 220-46) 1 2 The invention here disclosed relates to valve Structure, however, may be modified and changed n v r structure for the water ends of h avy as regards the immediate illustration, all withduty, high pressure slush pumps. in the true intent and broad scope of the inven- In pumps of this character the practice has tion as hereinafter described and claimed. been to secure the covers over the water valves Fig, 1 in the drawing is a broken cross seeby a series of screw studs, leaving clearance betional view of a valve pot and cover of the prestween the valve pot and cover flange to permit ent invention, this view being taken on substanadjustment required to make the gasket in the tially the section line [-4 of Fig. 3; cover fluid-tight, Fig. 2 is a broken cross sectional View as on In such constructions, with the cover clampsubstantially the plane of line 22 of Fig. 3; ing th p g, the stud nuts can only be Fig. 3 is a plan view of the new valve pot cover tightened to the compressive strength of the structure; s t a d the gasket being made of yieldable Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are broken sectional views ilmaterial, there can be no assurance that the lustrative of various possible modifications. cover is evenly tightened all the way around or The present invention avoids the objections that it is secured in exact vertical alignment noted, and others, by seating the cover on the with the valve. valve pot with a solid metal-to-metal engage- Further, in these heavy duty pumps the sucment and by the provision of means for effecttion valve pots and covers are subjected to a ing the sealing adjustment of the gasket indepartial vacuum on suction stroke and high prespendently of the fixed seating of the cover on sure on discharge stroke, and this reversal of the pot. loads tends to cause a slight breathing action In the illustrations the valve pot is indicated at in the pot cover which is destructive to the gas- 5, having a cylindrical bore 6 for the dependent ket and permits the nuts on the studs to work cylindrical plug portion 1 of the cover, and a l counterbore 8 at the top for the gasket 9 and a It is known that nuts carrying a load on studs gasket compressing ring it loosely surrounding should be pulled down tight enough to put a the upper part of the cylindrical plug portion. tension in each stud equal to the load the stud The pot body is provided with a flat annular is to carry. When a nut becomes loose the life seat ll surrounding the counterbore, and the of the stud is greatly reduced. Therefore, the flange portion of the cover is provided with a initial tension in the stud set up by the nut corresponding flat annular seat I2, these being should equal the load to be applied to the stud. machined square with the center line of the This preloading of the stud cannot be applied valve to maintain the cover, when seated, in Where, as in pumps of conventional design, the absolute alignment with the valve. only resistance under the valve pot cover is a 5 These flat seating surfaces may be extended yieldable gasket. to any desired width, to assure all firmness.

Resulting broken studs in valve pot covers of Here they are shown of a width for the stud conventional design pumps have caused damage bolts l3 to extend therethrough without intersuch as breaking of the valve pot, destroying rupting continuous annular edges. the complete water end of the pump. A clearance groove is shown provided at M at Objects of the present invention are to overthe inner edge of the annular seat ll, about the come and eliminate the inherent weaknesses and upper end of the counterbore 8. faults such as mentioned, of present day pumps. With this metal-to-metal seating of the cover Related objects of the invention are to acon the valve pot the nuts [5 overstanding the complish all this in a thoroughly practical form flange of the cover may be turned down to preof construction which can be produced at reasonload the studs to a stress which will insure maxi- 1 cosh mum stud life.

Other desirable objects attained by the ine ask t is not a d y s id at vention are set forth or will appear in the course o the cover and preloadil'lg 0 he Studs. of the following specification, wherein detail fea- This is assured y leaving the g t Seating tures of the invention are disclosed and broadly ring l0 loose on the cover and by providing sepclaimed. arate means, a set of cap screws l6 and thrust The drawings accompanying and forming part pins [1 in the illustration, for applying gasket of the specification illustrate certain present compression force after fully securing the cover. commercial embodiments of the invention. The thrust pieces I! provide for free rotation of the gasket seating screws, facilitating accurate, even adjustment of the same.

When the cover is applied the gasket seating and sealing screws are backed off so that the stud nuts may be tightened to fully secure and preload the studs Without affecting or being affected by the gasket.

Then, after fully securing the cover in its metal-to-metal seated engagement on the valve pot, the screws It may be turned down evenly to apply only suificient pressure on the gasket to effectively seal ofi fluid.

To keep the cover as a single unit the gasket ring I is shown as slidingly held on the cylindrical portion of the cover by screw pins l8 in the sides of the cover having their outer ends in transverse slots 19 in the ring.

This construction permits free gasket pressure applying movements of the ring but causes the ring to remain attached to the cover when the cover is removed from the valve pot.

One or more bleeder holes may be provided to release any leakage appearing at the groove M at the top of the packing counterbore.

In Fig. 1 a small hole 29 is shown extending through the cylindrical wall into the hollow central portion of the cap or cover, and Fig. 2 shows how a hole or groove 2| may be extended through the seat H for the cover flange. Either or both may be provided and in each instance indication is afiorded as to just how tight the gasket should be set toseal off pressure.

With the metal-to-metal seating of the valve pot cover, preloading of the valve pot studs and adjustment of the gasket to a desired minimum sealing pressure independently of the cover seating, perfect alignment of the cover with the top of the valve is maintained, breakage of studs and other injuries are avoided and longer gasket life is obtained.

The construction is simple and sturdy and can be produced at low cost.

Fig. 4 illustrates one of the possible variations of the invention, in which both valve pot and cover flange are machined fiat, full width, to give a maximum of metal-to-metal engagement.

Fig. 5 shows how metal-to-metal seating may be accomplished by interposition of metal bushings or spacer washers 22 between the valve pot and cover flange. These bushings afiord solid metal-to-metal support for the cover and have the advantage of providing spaces between the bushings located about the studs, for channeling any telltale leakage from the gasket.

To avoid objection as to these bushings being r extra, needed parts, they may be made integral, in the nature of bosses on the valve pot or cover, or both, as indicated at 23, Fig. 6.

In all these constructions the cover can be pulled down tight, metal-to-metal on the valve pot, and the stud bolts stressed to a preloaded such reversal of loads and sealedindependently of the securing, said valve pot having a cylindrical bore and a counterbore of larger diameter at the upper end of the cylindrical bore and open radially inwardly to the cylindrical bore, said valve pot having a cover seat on the upper end of the same about said counterbore, a one-piece cover having a flange in solid metal-to-metal engagement With said cover seat and having a dependent integral cylindrical plug portion of a diameter slightly less than the bore of the valve pot and extending down through the larger diameter counterbore into the upper end of the cylindrical bore of the valve pot, studs securing the flange oi the cover in metal-to-metal seated engagement on the valve pot and stressed to hold the cover fixed against reversal of loads in the valve pot, a compressible gasket seated in the counterbore about the cylindrical plug portion of the cover and free to be compressed radially inwardly against said dependent cylindrical plug portion of the cover, a sealing ring vertically slidable over said cylindrical plug portion and slidable in the counterbore over the top 01": said gasket, a pin projecting from said cylindrical por tion of the cover, said sealing ring having an opening receiving the projecting end of said pin and loosely confining the ring to said dependent cover portion and of sufficient vertical extent in permit gasket sealing adjustment of the ring when the cover is fixed in position on the valve pot, adjusting screws on the cover in line with said sealing ring and thrust plugs interposed between the ends of said screws and the top of the ring.

GEORGE E. CAMPBELL.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 1,367,348 Barnes Feb. 1, 1921 1,841,882 Francisci Jan. 19, 1932 2,226,495 Jacobs Dec. 24, 1940 2,492,409 Worn et a1. Dec. 2'7, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 691,144 Germany May 17, 1940 In... a. 

